It was just a few weeks ago that we wrote here about the miserable lot of law professors -- or more accurately about the whining of law professors proclaiming their misery. So now we learn, via The New York Times, that New York University School of Law, in order to recruit law professor Catherine M. Sharkey from Columbia's faculty to its own, shelled out $4.2 million to buy her an exclusive 4,000 square foot condominium built into one of the huge turrets of a French Renaissance château on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. "The duplex apartment has a round living and dining room with 37-foot high ceilings and Central Park views, along with three more conventional bedrooms," the Times tells us.

Lest you consider this a windfall for Sharkey, it should be noted that she and her partner shelled out $1.05 million for a 20 percent interest in the apartment -- although NYU gave them a 30-year mortgage to cover $650,000 of that.
Still, it was a step up for Sharkey, who had been living in a 2,000 square foot Columbia faculty unit in an adjoining building.
An NYU spokesman said that such arrangements are common, explaining that the school remains the owner of the property and the faculty member pays the school rent to occupy it. Still, NYU officials told the Times that they knew of no limits to the compensation packages and housing allowances they could offer to recruit star faculty.

So now it is time for the non-professors among us to whine about our own miserable lots.

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Law Prof Lured With Pricey Digs

It was just a few weeks ago that we wrote here about the miserable lot of law professors -- or more accurately about the whining of law professors proclaiming their misery. So now we learn, via The New York Times, that New York University School of Law, in order to recruit law professor Catherine M. Sharkey from Columbia's faculty to its own, shelled out $4.2 million to buy her an exclusive 4,000 square foot condominium built into one of the huge turrets of a French Renaissance château on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. "The duplex apartment has a round living and dining room with 37-foot high ceilings and Central Park views, along with three more conventional bedrooms," the Times tells us.

Lest you consider this a windfall for Sharkey, it should be noted that she and her partner shelled out $1.05 million for a 20 percent interest in the apartment -- although NYU gave them a 30-year mortgage to cover $650,000 of that.
Still, it was a step up for Sharkey, who had been living in a 2,000 square foot Columbia faculty unit in an adjoining building.
An NYU spokesman said that such arrangements are common, explaining that the school remains the owner of the property and the faculty member pays the school rent to occupy it. Still, NYU officials told the Times that they knew of no limits to the compensation packages and housing allowances they could offer to recruit star faculty.

So now it is time for the non-professors among us to whine about our own miserable lots.